quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
So although it may not look very nice, it's going to stay that way for now or rather, for forever because now I'm switching over to save for a grand piano.

Aw, but now you have a house you can refinance to get a grand piano!

On a more serious note, i think you should reconsider making this room a grand piano room. A grand piano needs to be against the short wall of a rectangular room in order for it to work best acoustically. It looks like the short walls in this room have windows and heat registers. Plus this room is too small for piano parties. Why not have the grand in the living room?

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
So although it may not look very nice, it's going to stay that way for now or rather, for forever because now I'm switching over to save for a grand piano.

Aw, but now you have a house you can refinance to get a grand piano!

It's the American way!

Just by coincidence, the Times has an article on choosing rugs this weekend.

How to choose the right rug

If it’s an expensive area rug, I’d think twice about placing a grand piano on it. Even though a piano’s legs have casters on them, they still might leave a permanent impression in the carpet.

A friend of mine owns an oriental rug store. He’s told me of the sob stories he has to hear when a customer buys an expensive oriental rug only to have it get ruined by cat claws, potted plants that leak water, etc.

So just to be sure I understand the plan....that's the living room and where you'd ultimately like a grand piano to go.

I can't help as far as colors and design are concerned; I'm awful at that (though FWIW I like that rug a lot), but I have a few questions and thoughts about the planning process.

For me the issue is that the various parts of the room don't have a defined purpose yet. I'm struggling to make the room work with the pieces that are there. The existing furniture is pushed up against the walls, you have an upright piano (not the grand), and the rug is kinda floating in space. There's just the one rocker for seating but no table or lamp to invite someone to sit in it.

Rather than trying to figure out what to do with the furniture and rug(s) you already have, I think I'd start with a blank slate and define functional areas in the room and come up with a plan for what pieces you need to accomplish that. You may have some pieces that will serve well, but you may find that you need to acquire some entirely different stuff.

Of course the first thing to determine is where the grand will go.

For instance, you might decide to create a piano entertainment area at one end of the room, with a sofa and seating for a crowd. It might be anchored/defined by the rug you have or some other one. Until you get your grand, maybe you would put the upright in the general location of the future grand even if it's not the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. Just put a sign on the upright that says "Just pretend I'm jon's Bosie SK's new grand piano ".

You could then acquire whatever pieces you need to fill in that end of the room even if the grand isn't there.

I'm also thinking a more intimate seating/reading area for two at the opposite end of the room, across from what I think is the front door. Maybe two comfy chairs, one each on the adjoining walls, and a corner table with a lamp in between them. A second rug (probably a different style) might anchor that space.

Then figure out lighting for the whole space. I suspect your floor lamps might come in handy.

It doesn't look like it from the picture, but I'm curious -- can you rotate your current rug 90 degrees to run the width rather than the length of the room? Or could you use it in the family room?

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
On a more serious note, i think you should reconsider making this room a grand piano room. A grand piano needs to be against the short wall of a rectangular room in order for it to work best acoustically. It looks like the short walls in this room have windows and heat registers. Plus this room is too small for piano parties. Why not have the grand in the living room?

This *is* the living room. It's about 11x18, and yes I'm planning to have the piano along the short wall. The window there doesn't get direct sunlight at any point during the day, and there are lots of trees out there. I can also keep the blind closed if I need to. There is a register there, but there's another one in the room. I talked to the HVAC guys about that, because I know you're not supposed to close vents in a ducted system because it messes up the airflow. They said if that's the only vent I close in the whole house, it shouldn't be a problem, so once there's a grand in there, I'll close that vent.

There is a family room (the room with the new flooring, if you remember that), but that room shares a half wall with the kitchen and the oven is on the other side of that half wall. So the piano needs to go in the living room. It is a little bit on the small side, but it should work out ok.

RP, thanks for that link, I'll take a look!

QL, the rug wasn't expensive, maybe like $300. I am not going to worry if it gets dented from a piano.

WTG, your points are all really good... Hmm, what to do... This piano (unlike almost all pianos) doesn't have wheels, so we can't move it ourselves.

quote:

define functional areas in the room

This makes a lot of sense. Of course, since the family room is the room with all the sitting-furniture, this room's main purpose is for piano. And violin, I need to move things around so I can have a dedicated spot for when my violin friend comes over. In the rental I always dragged a chair out etc., but here I'd like to have it just set up and ready, plus that might make it look better.

quote:

and come up with a plan for what pieces you need to accomplish that... you may find that you need to acquire some entirely different stuff

so this is the problem, because my plan has been to not buy any new furniture for this room until there's a grand piano in it. I might have an end table I could put out so there's something to go with the rocking chair, and there's a corner that's not in the photo that I could put something in, but I really don't want to spend any money on anything in here until I have a different piano.... So it might just look oddly empty for the next year, I don't know.

Re the rug, I don't think it would work rotating it... esp. since I think it would have to go under the upright to fit, and that won't work.

But I do like the idea of having a reading spot, another chair, something so it looks more inviting.

You're right that the rug is just floating there though... would it look weird to have a coffee table in the middle of the rug? It would make the piano feel cramped when you pull the bench out to sit down...

Hmmm, I think I need to figure out how much space a grand would need, whether I'd angle it or not, etc. so that I can kind of decorate it with that in mind...

I can see not buying furniture till the piano is there; I would probably go that route because I'm terrible at visualizing stuff and having the piano there would be important because it's the major piece in the room.

These rooms have doorways in places you don't, and I'm not at all certain about dimensions, but maybe you can take a look at these for some ideas:

I don't think the rug is as big a deal as it appears. I think the issue stems from a combination. SK, that shelving unit (with the slant front) to the left of the window as we are facing it--how about removing it and taking another picture without it there. I think there's something about the dark lines and open spaces it makes working with the rug against the best interests of the room. It might be worth an easy try?

P.S. IMO, the rocker and rug are not an issue.

some fun music themed decorating ideas. I especially love the music score chair and the piano keyboard door.

https://www.europianosnaples.c...ith-a-piano-in-mind/

Ok, I took some of Bernard's advice and some of WTG's, take a look and let me know what you think:

1. Nothing in corner


2. chair in corner


3. End table in corner (pilfered from guest room)


4. End table in front of window


5. Plant in corner


6. Two plants


7. Where the tall shelf went (next to door to hallway)


8. The front door - this is our main entry right now, and we need to have a spot for shoe removal, so that makes it a little awkward. Once everything is more settled, I'll get rid of the stripped mats..


Right now I'm leaving it set up as in #6. I'll put a piece of art above the piano soon, I think that will make a big difference and probably the location wouldn't change (fingers crossed) even with a grand.

P.S. WTG, I need to look at that link again, but I love the music score chair too!

Actually I kind of like the chair in the corner, maybe the end table could go there too. And then the pachira could go.... where??

By the way, the other consideration is Mr. SK's castle, I think that needs to go there if for no other reason than the fact that it's the safest spot for it!

Well, the lid of the piano has to open up to the room, rather than to that back wall, so that narrows things down. I don’t think you want it on the current piano wall facing into the corner, because your back would be to the door. (That would bug me, anyway.) And you could put it parallel to that back window, but I don’t think that’s aesthetically pleasing.

So: You could angle the tail into the corner on the right as you look into the room, and still have your back to the room. Nope.

Or, you could angle the tail out, and have your bench at the back wall, but on an angle, and I think it would look good and sound better that way, too.



Not as far to the right as I have mine. But can you see the angle here?

And I think you want the piano at that end of the room, because otherwise it will be like a stumbling block as you enter the room, and feel like it’s an obstruction to you using the rest of the room. So maybe have the reading area on the end closer to the door?

Edit: we cross-posted. You could put the castle in the far left corner!

Wow, big difference it seems to me. That shelving unit and the rug had a thing going!

I like it.